The
United States has been known, in both story and song, as the “Land
of the Free.” But it seems that year after year we become less
free and more controlled. Today we are managed from cradle to grave
by city, county, state, and federal statutes. We were even told this
year, by our city attorney, that the zoning laws in our city supersede
city statute and that if our home zoning code does not specifically
permit you to have or do something, then it is, by their definition,
illegal and they can fine or confiscate property.

Things
like this are happening across the United States at every level of government.
When Ed Schultz petitioned the federal government to show the American
people which law makes the average private sector worker liable for
income tax, they would not do it. There response was “we will
show them by enforcement.”

Merriam-Webster’s
Dictionary defines freedom as: “The quality or state of being
free a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice
or action.”

Compliance
is defined as: “1a: the act or process of complying to a desire,
demand, proposal, or regimen or to coercion. 1b: conformity in fulfilling
official requirements.”

And
lastly Precognition is defined as: “Clairvoyance relating to an
event or state not yet experienced.”

Freedom
denotes the ability to make choices and perform actions that you determine
is in your best interest in whatever manner you decide. With freedom
comes the requisite responsibility to ensure that you do not tread upon
the rights of anyone else. With that responsibility comes the duty to
make whole any breach made to another’s rights or property.

Most
laws have a basis in social morality. Society acknowledges that to take
something that does not belong to you is wrong and you have a damaged
party – the person who owned the property that was stolen. Murder,
assault, battery, trespass, property damage, libel, slander, and many
more, are all examples of laws where a person has been damaged by the
action of others.

In
a truly free society if there were no damaged party there would be no
crime. In the above examples we can readily see that for any of these
things to happen there has to be someone who is injured by the actions
of another. We expect everyone in America to comply with these laws
because it protects everyone equally, even the person who committed
the crime.

But
what about the millions of laws (statutes) on the books today that makes
if virtually impossible for the average person to go through the day
without committing a criminal act. Here are a few examples; and while
reading this list, think in your mind, ‘who is the damaged party:’

•
You pull up to a stop sign, notice no one is coming from any direction,
and before coming to a complete stop you roll on through. No accident
is caused, no one has to evade your vehicle in fear of getting hit,
nothing happens.• Your driving down the street listening to your
favorite song, and even trying to sing along, in key, and almost miss
your turn but you quickly look around and no one is nearby, so you quickly
apply the brakes and turn the corner. But you did not have time to use
your directional signal; but no one was hurt, no damage.• You have a motorcycle and decide, on a nice
warm summer day, to take a ride and feel the freedom of the open road
and wind in your hair. Only your state has a helmet law; but have you
hurt anyone, have you caused damage? No.• The Constitution, and the Supreme Court has
confirmed, that you have the right to keep and bear arms. Yet as a law
abiding citizen, wearing a holstered firearm, without menacing anyone,
without damaging anyone, can been made a criminal solely for exercising
a right. Even in states with open carry laws police will respond to
a “man with a gun” call and treat anyone found there as
if they were a criminal.• You are a delivery driver and have to make
frequent stops to deliver items so you forgo wearing a seatbelt.• You cross the road where there is no cross
walk.• You own property and add a porch to the back
of your house without getting permission.• You own property and finish the basement without
getting permission.• You own property and you want to plant a garden
or raise half a dozen chickens for eggs for your family without getting
permission.• You learned a trade to support yourself and
your family but you did not get permission.

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The
list could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. In each and
every item listed above there is no damaged party. There is, however,
the law that says you must do these things, “for your own good”
of course.

The
government tells us that these laws are put in place to provide an orderly
and safe society, just a less free society. However, using that logic
they would have to outlaw motor vehicles and doctors as either one of
these cause more deaths to Americans each year than firearms do. They
tell us that they want to control us with these laws to prevent certain
things from happening. In many of the examples above one could recognize
the potential of reducing accidents or injury which is fine and noble.

But
now we touch on the precognition element of this article – if
no one is harmed by not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign then
the only logical conclusion is that it is meant to prevent a future
occurrence from happening or is it just that the nanny state wants to
punish anyone who does not do what they are told, anyone that does not
comply.

The
logical argument to this would be that they simply want to avoid the
cost and trauma of accidents on our streets. Yet, when the statute is
broken, and no harm is done, you still may be fined or jailed. I do
not believe that the government can see the future and know, with any
certainty, that what they are doing is stopping a particular accident.
What they are saying is nothing more than you must come to a complete
stop or you are guilty of that violation. But, in cases where no damage
has occurred, if you are doing things solely because you are told you
must do them, then you no longer have choice, you are not the deciding
factor, and you do not have freedom.

Part
of the problem with our system of law is that it tries to cover every
aspect of our lives to save us from ourselves. We are being treated
as stupid children who do not know what is good for ourselves and have
to have big brother tell us what we can and cannot do.

Would
it not be more reflective of a free society that we make people responsible
for their own actions? How about if I drive down the road, without a
seat belt, and I get in an accident and get hurt, I take responsibility
for my own actions. If someone else is to blame then they are responsible
for making me whole or as much as can be. If I die then that person
is tried for manslaughter and goes to jail. Freedom, responsibility
and duty!

Yes
there are tragic things that occur in life, none of us are getting out
of here alive, and it won’t be easy. Freedom cannot be held as
the price to pay for a false sense of safety. We have millions of laws
on the books to keep us safe yet year after year things seem to get
worse. We have tens of thousands of gun laws on the books and every
year people are killed by guns. Not because we don’t have enough
gun laws but only because bad people don’t care about the law
and will find the instrument they want to use on the black market. We
have tens of thousands of motor vehicle laws across the nation, yet
more and more people are killed on our streets and highways. Not because
we don’t have enough laws it is because of human nature, or human
stupidity,(I think they are linked).

In
the end, laws that punish people where there is no damaged party does
nothing but constrain the freedom of the law abiding. The goal is admirable
but unrealistic; you cannot save the people from themselves, because
the very act of trying removes their freedom and makes all people potential
criminals in the eyes of the state.

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But
at the same time, if you are the state then the more laws you have the
more power you have over the people. Ask any policeman, and they will
tell you, if they want to stop someone, all they have to do is follow
them long enough and they will make an infraction that will justify
stopping them.

We
are told having all these laws is to help keep us safe or is it more
likely having all these laws allows the government (at whatever level)
to have more and more control over the people.

Everyone
I have talked with believe we need some law, especially for instances
of damage. But where do we draw the line. For every law that is passed,
that operates upon the people, a proportionate amount of freedom is
lost. Remember, freedom is choice without constraint or coercion, but
we should recognize the accompanying responsibility and base our laws
accordingly.

An
example of government law run amuck is the Health Care Bill. We are
told that “Health Care” is a right. If that is so then the
person who has the right has the responsibility inherent in that right.
But what our government is telling us is that person X has the right
to health care and person Y has the responsibility to pay for it and
doctor Z can only perform and charge what the government says he can
perform and charge.

For
each of the person Xs receiving a benefit (right) of healthcare, they
did not pay for, the person Ys are damaged by loss of property, their
taxes, and the doctor Zs are damaged by loss of choice for their patents
and their earnings for that service.

Each
year thousands of law abiding gun owners, merchants, and gun smiths
are taxed, burdened with restrictions, licenses, fees, and taxes to
comply with gun laws. While the criminal element goes to the nearest
bad guy black market and buys whatever he wants. Who is the law impacting?
The BATF&E, in audits over the years, has been shown to arrest,
or put out of business, people for simple, honest, paperwork violations,
without any criminal intent, for solely not complying with the “law.”
These violations have been as simple as writing Nebraska instead of
using NE, or someone signing in the wrong spot or having transposed
a zip code number.

If
laws were really about criminal activity they would target only the
criminals. The law would identify an act of damage against another member
of society and punish the behavior. What does it matter if John buys
a gun from Roger? What does it matter if John buys a gun from any gun
store? Criminals are going to get the weapon by whatever means is available.
The government says they want to make it hard for the criminal to get
guns. They have been at it for almost a hundred years – how are
they doing?

There
is one way to get rid of all the illegal gun crime in the nation. How
about if we activate the National Guard, all retired police officers,
all active military and every active policeman and went to every house
and every store in the nation and confiscated every gun they could find?
Every registered gun will have to be accounted for or the person goes
to jail. Let’s say we take off the streets a few million guns
– would we be safe then?

How
long have we been fighting the war on drugs? Have we stopped drugs coming
into the country? Do you think they can smuggle guns into the US by
the same method? The only thing laws, that do not apply to damage, do
is remove more of your freedoms. It is sold to you as a placebo of safety
and good order, but do not be deceived, it is for control and nothing
less.

Laws
that control people to act or do certain things are created to force
people to comply with the will of the state. Whenever coercion is used
freedom is withdrawn, even if done so willingly. Compliance is another
word for action by coercion, we do it because if we do not we may receive
some punishment, even when that action does no harm.

We
give the state/government credit for knowing what is best for each of
us. They are trying to prevent bad things from happening, to minimize
risk. But they have no crystal ball, they have no ability to see into
the future, they have no precognition. But what if each of these laws
was on the book as criminal multipliers? If person X fails to stop at
a stop sign and causes an accident, then an increased sentence multiplier
is added during sentencing? Then the average person driving down the
road who comes to a intersection, surveys the conditions, slows down
to ensure it is safe to proceed and then does so without damage, then
he has committed no criminal act.

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The
bottom line is that this is about freedom -- freedom to make decisions
and bear the burdens or fruits of those decisions. Freedom is not a
mantra to evoke patriotic feelings it is a state of being. The more
infringement we allow our government to impose upon the people the fewer
freedoms we will enjoy. Until one day we shall awake in a land where
freedom was only what our ancestors experienced.

Michael
LeMieux was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma in 1956 and graduated from
Weber State University in Utah with a degree in Computer Science. He
served in both the US Navy and US Army (Active duty and National Guard)
and trained in multiple intelligence disciplines and was a qualified
paratrooper. He served with the 19th Special Forces Group, while in
the National Guard, as a Special Forces tactical intelligence team member.
He served tours to Kuwait and Afghanistan where he received the Purple
Heart for injuries received in combat.

Mr. LeMieux left military duty at the end of 2005 after being medically
discharged with over 19 years of combined military experience. He currently
works as an intelligence contractor to the US government.

Michael
is a strict constitutionalist who believes in interpreting the constitution
by the original intent of the founding fathers. His research has led
him to the conclusion that the republic founded by the Constitution
is no longer honored by our government. That those who rule America
today are doing so with the interest of the federal government in mind
and not the Citizens. Michael believes that all three branches of government
have strayed far from the checks and balances built into the Constitution
and they have failed the American people. A clear example is the Second
Amendment, which the Supreme Court and the founders have all said was
an individual right and could not be "infringed" upon, now
has more than 20,000 state and federal laws regulating every aspect
of the individuals right, a definite infringement. He has traveled around
the world living in 14 States of the Union including Hawaii, and visited
(for various lengths of time) in Spain, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Korea,
Scotland, Pakistan, Mauritius, Somalia, Diego Garcia, Australia, Philippines,
England, Italy, Germany, and Puerto Rico.

Michael
now lives in Nebraska with his wife, two of his three children, Mother-in-Law
and grandchild. His hobbies include shooting, wood-working, writing,
amateur inventor and scuba diving when he can find the time.